


reality & nightmares

by ShirosRedKnight (SweetFanfics)



Series: Sheith Week 2016 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, mention of character having a panic attack, no graphic descriptions of the dreams, really bad nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 10:50:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11576568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/ShirosRedKnight
Summary: Before, Shiro’s nightmares used to come to him rarely. Maybe once or twice a year and always of the mundane variety.After?Shiro’s got an arsenal of nightmares.





	reality & nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> I keep thinking about how a lot of fics or fanfics have Shiro going galra and how it’d be so rough for Keith. But consider this: Keith being taken away by the galra for a year and the impact it’d have on _Shiro_. day 5 of Sheith Week  & we still goin strong, baby.

_Before_ , Shiro’s nightmares used to come to him rarely. Maybe once or twice a year and always of the mundane variety. Like sitting in an exam he knew nothing about as the clock ticked down. Driving down strange roads panicking he was late to pick up his parents. His least favorite recurring nightmare was being late to class in the morning. Shiro would dream that he’d somehow missed his alarm and would rush through his routine trying to beat the clock only to still be 30 minutes late. 

  


That one followed him even after he’d graduated and become an officer. He continued to have occasional but ultimately irregular nightmares of being tardy.

  


_After_? 

  


Shiro’s got an  _arsenal_  of nightmares.

  


In the first few weeks, Shiro tended to have one of two nightmares. One was what you’d expect. The other? Not so much.

  


The arena haunted most of his nightmares. Shiro could almost feel the sand giving way under his feet as he was shoved into the ring, weapon in hand and heart in his throat. Shiro dreamed of fighting off aliens bigger than him, more aggressive than him, but equally desperate to live. He'd wake up with a battle cry on the tip of his throat, choking him as his body struck at opponents long defeated. Long dead. 

  


Sometimes Shiro struck nothing but cool air. A couple of times his fist hit the wall his bed was up against, the resulting ‘clang’ yanking Shiro awake. The adrenaline rush of those nightmares stayed with him long after he’d jerked himself into wakefulness. When he’d starting sharing a bed with Keith, Shiro worried he may accidentally hurt Keith. And he did a few times, resulting in him guiltily avoiding his lover for days afterward until Keith physically dragged him back to bed, chiding him the entire way. 

  


The second recurring nightmare was of his taking. 

  


Shiro would relive that moment on Kerberos. Feel a yawning chasm of fear crack his soul in half as he caught sight of the alien ship peaking over the moons horizon. Remember the utter despair he’d felt when the tractor beam locked onto him and the Holts and pulled them in.

  


Waking up from those nightmares served as a bitter reminder that he was still scared. The cavern in his core still existed, wind whistling through the dark depths. Shiro would wake up from those nightmares and have trouble sleeping for  _days_  afterwards, hating how powerless he felt. Because that’s what the root of that nightmare was: how powerless he’d felt being captured. Not knowing what was about to happen. Scared beyond words at the knowledge that the universe was  _far_  bigger than he’d  _ever_  thought.

  


But as the weeks had progressed, a new nightmare was born. It clawed its way out of fissure, hisses merging into the whistling wind. Until it finally reared its ugly head out into the sun.

  


The first time he’d dreamt of the Galra capturing one of them, while he watched on helplessly, Shiro had woken up in a cold sweat and gone straight into a panic attack. And as soon as he’d managed to gather his bearings, he’d stumbled down the hall to make sure Hunk was okay. The yellow paladin had blearily yawned and barely gotten Shiro's name out before Shiro had grabbed Hunk in a relieved hug.

  


And they got worse with every mission. In spite of their many successes, Shiro’s nightmares chipped away at the depths of the ravine, digging it deeper. 

  


Shiro dreamt of Lance being taken away, slung over a Galra soldier like a sack of potatoes. He saw Pidge being shot at point blank range in the chest by an angry druid. Shiro screamed his throat raw at sight of Keith being caught in the middle of a group of Galra, unarmed and outnumbered. Shiro scrambled for reassurance after dreaming Allura’s execution at Zarkon’s hand. He grabbed Coran in a tight hug and refused to let him go, focusing on how the older man felt against him - alive and well and not dead in a puddle of his own blood.

  


He’d dreamt of his teams capture and/or death too many times to count. So much so that it  _has_  become his most recurrent nightmare. So much so that the others no longer stared at him in confusion when he woke them up in the middle of their night cycle by pounding on their bedroom doors.

  


Which was why, when they were in the middle of a fight on a planet whose name he can't pronounce and Shiro  _saw_  the Galra soldier swing his gun and clip Keith in the back of the head with? White static filled Shiro’s head. 

  


_Is this real?_  

  


Three Galra soldiers surrounded him, taking advantage of his sudden disorientation to overpower him.  


  


_Am I dreaming?_  

  


Shiro found himself questioning reality as Keith fell to his knees, a cloud of dust rising up from the contact. Shiro stared at the trickle of blood that slid down down the corner of Keith’s mouth.

  


_Is this a nightmare?_  Shiro’s thoughts spun out of control as he stared at the soles of Keith’s boots, watching the two Galra soldiers drag Keith away towards the ship waiting nearby. 

  


A hard blow to the back of his head was his answer and it told him nothing.

  


When he was woken up by a hard shake to the shoulder and Hunk’s worried voice calling out his name, Shiro got his answers. 

  


And despaired as the cavity inside of him turned into a bottomless pit.


End file.
